If LimeLight Marketing is building a website for your ecommerce store, or if you are a client we currently work with, you may want to consider hosting your ecommerce website with us.
This means that we would provide the service you need to enable your website to be viewed online by storing it on a secure server.
What to consider as you assess ecommerce hosting options
Whether you are thinking about using LimeLight to host your ecommerce website or if you are looking at a different service provider, there are four main considerations and questions you should answer before you make your decision:
- How easily will you be able to update your online store? Some providers make it tough to update the site and as your collection expands or changes, you will need to implement updates on a regular basis.
- Is it a shared platform? Many host providers use a “shared platform” meaning that up to 5,000 sites are on the same server using the same resources as you. If there is a security breach or a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on a co-existing site, your site will be affected. In the age of instant gratification and high competition, ecommerce sites can’t afford downtime as it leads to lost revenue.
- Can the service provider support your ecommerce website? Ensure the host can support your website. For example, some hosts do not offer support for the latest version of PHP. Many host providers specialize in a few core platforms and will only integrate with those particular platforms. A clean and easy-to-navigate site without glitches makes for a better shopping experience and is more likely to convert clicks into purchases.
- How secure is the hosting provider? Be mindful of security and compliance. Security is often a top concern when selecting an ecommerce website host and without the right security measures in place, customers may lose confidence in shopping on your platform and turning to you as a trusted brand. Shared hosting providers are not allowed to host banks, e-commerce platforms that store user credit cards, or projects hosting highly confidential data.
When making choices about your service provider and the hosting you need for your ecommerce website, it’s also worth taking into account the following factors:
- How much traffic will come through your site
- How secure you need your site to be
- How content heavy your site will be and how large the file space
- How much data you will need to back up
Benefits of LimeLight hosting your ecommerce website
High performance, reliability, full security, and proactive support are some of aspects you need when choosing a host for your ecommerce website. So where do we fit into that picture? LimeLight:
- Will connect our version control software to your site for updates, reducing the amount of time required for updates by two or three times. Sites we host have a direct line with our edits and we have greater confidence in being a successfully maintained solution.
- Has fully independent servers rather than operating on a shared platform. This means your site won’t be at risk from potential security breaches of other sites. High security is hugely important to clients who are asking customers to share sensitive information.
- Will be able to support your website. We stay up to date with the latest version of PHP which decreases security risks and is quicker and more stable. Google recommends pages loading under two seconds, not only for user satisfaction but also as a ranking factor.
- Operates on a completely secure platform. We provide HTTPS SSL certificates as standard so your site will be encrypted and more secure.
There are other benefits to current clients in LimeLight hosting your ecommerce website, including:
- Monthly updates to your site – regular updates ensure your site is compatible, upgraded, and there’s no security risk to set you back. We also test every site upgrade in a development environment to ensure it is fully functional before making live updates.
- Focus on SEO – we can ensure your ecommerce website is performing optimally and not working against other marketing efforts such as SEO and lead conversion.
- Site updates are quicker and easier – if we host your ecommerce website, we can work more easily on the site. We can build faster, better, and more frequently if we have easy access to and control of your ecommerce website.
- The servers we use run the new HTTP/2 protocol which increases site speed. This, in turn, strengthens your website’s optimization as site speed is critical to SEO and adds to a great user experience
- These servers also have the capacity for flexibility and huge growth of your website as your online store expands
- We have a full-time developer at LimeLight – if something goes wrong there is an expert on hand to tackle any issues quickly
- If you are one of our retainer clients, it is easier and more efficient to have all the components of your ecommerce website in one place and run by the same people to streamline the system.
Hosting your ecommerce website with LimeLight
We use the Digital Ocean platform to host most of our clients’ ecommerce websites. It is reliable, secure, and trusted by companies such as Slack and WeWork. Digital Ocean also provides the flexibility for websites to scale up quickly and effectively as they grow.
The cost of LimeLight hosting your ecommerce website
Our monthly hosting fee starts at $50 per month and increases based on the needs of your website. We invoiced quarterly for a three-month hosting period. In addition to the monthly hosting, there is a $150 one-time setup fee, unless we build your ecommerce website, in which case that fee is waived.
